Why are metals sonorous?

see full answer

Your Exam Success, Personally Taken Care Of

1:1 expert mentors customize learning to your strength and weaknesses – so you score higher in school , IIT JEE and NEET entrance exams.

An Intiative by Sri Chaitanya

They have high melting point

They are hard

They have elasticity

They have plasticity

answer is C.

(Unlock A.I Detailed Solution for FREE)

Best Courses for You

JEE

NEET

Foundation JEE

Foundation NEET

CBSE

Detailed Solution

Concept- Sonorous refers to the ability to produce sound. All metals except mercury are found to be sonorous.
Now, metals are characterised by fewer electrons in their outermost orbital. As a result, electron bonding in metals is highly delocalized.
Therefore, when a metal surface is hit, the electron cloud in it moves easily with little energy dissipation. This allows the incoming kinetic energy to easily propagate as a wave.
Because metals have high elasticity, this wave propagates at high speed. Sound requires elasticity for high-speed propagation.
Therefore, metals are sonorous because they are highly elastic. Due to its elasticity, it can be used for high speed propagation and used for musical instruments.
Hence, the correct answer is 3.

Watch 3-min video & get full concept clarity